Putin hails New Delhi as ‘reliable partner’; blasts West over ‘detrimental’ interference in India-Russia ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (June 4, 2026) praised Moscow’s strategic partnership with New Delhi and asserted that Western attempts to force India to reduce cooperation with Russia are futile and undermine global stability.

Interacting with heads of leading global news agencies including PTIMr Putin praised India’s economic growth and independent foreign policy and said Russia was determined to expand economic relations with the country.

“India is among the largest economies in the world and is currently demonstrating an impressive rate of economic growth,” Mr. Putin said, expressing confidence that bilateral trade between the two countries is on track to reach a milestone of $100 billion in the coming years.

Mr Putin said Russia did not see any negative consequences of Western pressure on India to limit its engagement with Russia, suggesting such tactics were bound to backfire.

“Everyone wants to put pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” [and India] This country, which has the largest population in the world, is harmful to international and bilateral relations. It doesn’t matter where this pressure comes from,” Mr. Putin said.

“We don’t see any negative consequences,” he added.

The Russian President’s remarks come at a time of growing unrest in some Western capitals over India-Russia relations. The US has been constantly pressuring India to reduce its purchases of crude oil from Russia.

FM Lavrov: Russia will fulfill all agreements on energy supplies to India

Putin said, “India is one of the leading economies in the world showing the highest economic growth rate. This is not something that came out of nowhere. This is the result of the hard work of the Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” he said. PTIs CEO and Editor-in-Chief is Vijay Joshi.

The Russian President emphasized that New Delhi will continue to prioritize its national interests, adding that India’s diplomatic relations with the US do not hinder or undermine its time-tested relations with Russia.

Asked whether India’s deep alliance with Washington would create structural friction for Russia, Mr Putin said: “We are pleased that India is improving its relations with all the countries it considers important for its national interests.”

Mr. Putin said Russia sees India as a “reliable partner” and sees no negative consequences from New Delhi’s bilateral relations with any other country.

“India is a great nation and democracy and Russia will continue to expand its relations with it,” he said.

Answering a question about the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian President said that he was open to resolving the issue and now the task is to convince Kiev.

He also rejected the idea that European Union countries could act as mediators in peace talks with Ukraine.

The Russian President said the EU could help resolve the conflict by convincing Kiev to compromise rather than supplying it with weapons.

Mr. Putin said that the Ukraine crisis is a “local” problem, while the Iran problem is a global problem.

“How can Russia trust people who have been insisting for years on the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia?” he said.

He said Russia was ready to support any decision that could contribute to reducing tensions in West Asia.

Mr Putin also questioned Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as President, saying the Ukrainian leader’s term as president had expired.

In response to a question, he said, “Will they hold an election or not? We need to ask these questions.”